YOUNG PEOPLE AND THE PARADOX OF OPPORTUNITIES IN CAPE VERDE

Based on ethnographic data collected in the city of Mindelo, Cape Verde, this paper proposes an analysis that focuses the category of "young" as the axis for understanding the contemporary social structures, their changes and continuities. The dominant discourses about young people are confronted with the discourse of young people themselves, highlighting a paradoxical vision of the opportunities available, which seem to grow and at the same time remain scarce. In the context of the recent changes in Cape Verdean society, it is proposed an interpretation of this paradox in light of an ethnography that shows young people as social actors and that takes into account their constraints, their expectations towards the future and their life choices. This analysis allows a generational and historical explanation for the apparent paradox of opportunities and highlights the growing ambiguity and uncertainty associated with the condition of youth in contemporary Cape Verde.